Upload
others
View
0
Download
0
Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
THE REFUGEE COMMUNITIES BEFORE THE EXODUS
TIBETANS
In order to understand the process of adaptation
of Tibetan refugees in Indian setttng, it is necessary
to comprehend the sources in the traditional social struct-
ure which makes for adaptation. This would imply that
we study the Tibetan Social Structure and Culture as
a Unified System and not as a collection of diverse cultur-
al traits and classes.It also requires us to map the
social structure and culture over the geographical terrain
of Tibet, because at low levels of technology ecological
factors significantly limit the social structure and
culture.
Tibet is a vast plateau of around 4,70,000
sq.miles with an average altitude of 16,000 ft. above
the sea level. It .lies between the latitude of 27° and
37° north. It is a land locked plateau being at least
a 1, 000 miles away from the sea in any dire-=:tion. The
plateau is bounded on the north by the Kunlin range and -
in the South by the Himalayas. In the west, it is bordered
by the Ladakh ranges and the East Consists of a rugged-
terrain with deep gorges.
Palakshappa divides the Tibetan plateau into
four following regions:-
l. The northern plateau with an average altitude
of 16000 ft. is cold and dry with hardly 20
ems. of rain fall. Moss, lichens and the sparse
2 •
3 .
4 .
94
grass are the only vegetation found in this
area and is thinly populated with nomads.
The western highland region which is a source
of rivers Indus and sutlej is more hospitable.
While cultivation is possible in the river
valleys of the region, there exists nomads
and semi-nomads with large flocks of sheep
and herds of yaks and mules.
The south central region which is the land
of valleys is a fairly well populated area.
The river brahamputra and a number of Tributaries
flows in this region and the average altitude
is not more than 15000 ft. and the valleys
are on 11500 ft. high. There are forests with
timber and orchards.· In some villages even
rice is cultivated. The vegetables and fruits
are grown in this area. This is the region
in which the capital of tibet Lhasa is located.
There are. several other cities too in this
are.
The eastern plateau known as kham is rugged
and compara~ively dry. It is the home of Khampas
and through this region passes the trade route
to China. Agriculture and fruit gardening is
possible in the valleys and pastures on the
support the livestockl 1
The oranges, bananas, pears, and watermelons
are crops in traduced in to Tibet during the last twenty
years and now on the increase. As regards the climate,
the winters are fiercely cold, with average temperature
in the coldest months of 14 o to 5° and with absolute
minimums of around 40°. More benign conditions are to
be found in the southern and eastern valleys which has
an average temperature of 68° in July and 27° in January,
and in some areas in the eastern valleys, the climate
is almost tropical~
As regards the composition of population, ninety
six percent of the inhabitants are ethnic Tibetans; the
rest are members of more than ten minority groups. Many
of the towns grew up around Budhist Monasteries.
The agricultural system practiced in Zones
of intensive agriculture, often terraced, in the valleys,
or on the slopes which are better exposed is primitive.
Tibet 1 s flourishing breeding stocks of cattle (including
the precious tibetan Yak), sheep and goats form the most
consistent resource of the traditional agropastoral economy.
1. T. c. Palakshappa: Tibetans in India, 1 A case study of Mundgod Tibetans. Sterling Publishers (Pvt) Ltd. New Delhi 1978 pp.23-24 .
. 2. Jugoslovenska Revi ja, 1 Tibet 1
Fredrick Muller Limited, London,l981 pp.S0-52.
8G
Aside from providing the main elements of nutrition
(barley and butter) these stocks provide the work force
for ploughing and transport and primary materials. Such
as wool and leather, which are used both for clothing
and for highly appreciated handicrafts, especially carpets
Owing to the high altitude of Tibetan plateau
which is more or less inaccessible to the outside world,
the Tibetan nation has developed, in its long history
a series of customs and rituals quite distinct from those
of other people.
The funeral rites of the Tibetans are usually
varied and interesting. They have celestial burial, water
burial, cremation, burial in the ground and inurnment
in a stupa, according to the financial and social status
of the deceased and the family. Cremation is used for
the learned scholar-monks called geshe, and other highly
placed persons. Their bodies are burned and the bones
and ashes are either scattered to the winds or cast into
a river.
Marriages in Tibet used to be almost always arrang
ed. Sons and daughters and especially daughters had little
right to choose their partners and of ten dicl not even
know what they looked like until the marriage. There
was no intermarriage between the rich and the poor, for
social position and wealth were the primary factors,
•
9'7
with good looks and moral character lagging far behind.
Society was divided into eight classes, and people could
marry only within their own. And intermarriage only within
ones own social class naturally tended to perpetuate
the rigid class system~
Common serfs could not marry without the approval
of their landlords. Generally speaking, it was easier
to marry another serf belonging to the same landlord,
as marriages between serfs of different landlords meant
that one or the other of the landlors lost a serf.
Marriage was also prohibited between relatives.
This rule was absolute with regard to the paternal side
of the family, while 0:1 the mothers side marriage was
permitted only after four generations.
Tibetan social rituals are many and varied and
closely connected with religion. Khatas are presented
in an extraordinary varie::.y of situations, in addition
to weddings, births and funerals, for instance, when
one calls on ones' elders, pays homage to ~igures of
the Buddha, or takes leave of an honoured person to make
a journey. The Khata usually is a piece of raw silk,
fabric, woven almost to the fineness of a spiders web,
thoug_h it is sometimes made of high-quality satin. Its
3. Ibid. pp. 90-93.
~JB
length varies from 3 feet to as much as 20 feet. The
Khata is a symbol of purity and sincerity. From time
immemorial Tibetans have considered that white symbolizes
both purity and good luck, so most khattas are white.
But there are also gaily colored khattas in blue, yellow,
green and red, and these are presented to those who have
made vows to attain Buddhahood and are wound around the
arrows for the bride to give them color. Colored khattas
are the grandest gifts of all. According to Buddhist
belief the colored' khata is the dress of Bodhisattva
and can therefore be used only on special occasions~
Thus being located in an inaccessible region,
Tibetan society has had minimal contact with its neighbour
ing countries. The Tibetan society has been virtually
left untouched by the impact of western civilization.
Therefore it should not surprise us to find in Tibet
its own form of religion, social and political structure
which in many respects remains unique in the world.
Although Tibet is a land of many religions includi
ng Hinduism, Islam, Christianity and Bon- a folk religion
peculiar to Tibet, but the dominant religion of Tibet
is Mahayana Buddhism. Buddhism was purported to have
been introduced in Tibet by a Nepalese princes who converted
4. Ibid. pp. 94-95.
9B
the King and Queen· of Tibet. The queen of Tibet came
to be regarded as the reincarnation of the Hindu Godess
Tara, and is the only female godess worshipped by the
Tibetan Buddhists. Many of the animistic rights prevalent
in the B:::>n religion were assimilated by the Tibetans
in their Buddhist practices. The worship of godess
Tara being one such instance, the religious ceremonies
at death, initiation and marriage being the others.
Syncretism of this nature illustrates the emphasis
on divination in Tibetan Buddhism. It is used to tap
the knowledge which a Tibetan feels must always exist
somewhere, but which is not attainable by any means
other than divination. This process is used to communica
te with spirits, forecast the future, and to cure the
diseases. Powers of divination gives its possessor
considerable prestige in the community.
The Tibetan Buddhism is a rich philosophy having
its own dialectics .:ind metaphysics. It also consists
of an advanced depth psychology linked to the techniques
of meditation and the control of psycho-physiological
functions (Yoga); an enormous pantheon, countless rituals,
popular practic~s, cosmological speculations and systems
of divination~·
5. R.A. Stein, 'Tibetan Civilization',
Faber and Faber Ltd.London,l972 pp.l64-165.
JOO
Mahayana Buddhism which constitutes the Tibetan
brand of Buddhism plays a predominant role in their
lives to perceive the manner in which it influences
the attitudes and way of life. It is necessary to provide
a broad outline of the principles implicit in Mahayana
Buddhism.
The Buddha taught that the ultimate need was
Liberation and that this had no other object than the
. . f N. 6 exper1enc1ng o 1rvana. But the Buddha when pressed
for answers regarding the nature of Nirvana, the origin
of the world, the reality of the self and the like
withdrew into a noble silence. Intellectual curiosity
unable to remain content with that silence sought to
indulge in varied intellectual speculations. Many claim
that it was this that led to Mahayana Buddhism. This,
as watts points out, is false, for the vast body of
Mahayana doctrine arose not so much to satisfy intellect-
ual curiosity as to deal with the practical psychological
problem encountered in following Buddh9s' way. The
central of Mahayana Buddhism has always been to bring
6. Nirvana is 'de-spiritualisation'. It is the act of one who has comprehended the futility of trying to hold his breath or life (Prana) indefinitely, since to hold the breath is also to loose it. Thus Nirvana is the equivalent of release, Moksha or Salvation: Nirvana is seen as the cessation ( NIR) of tuinings (VRITTI), hence the cessation of turnings of the mind.
.101
about the experience of Nirvana, hence the provision
of 'skilful means' (Upaya) for making Nirvana accessible
to every type of mentality?
Implicit in Mahayana Buddhism (Maha meaning
• great • yana being • vehicle • hence the great vehicle
of liberation) is the concept of individualized and
collectivised mind. The unenlightened man, for from
the stage of full awakening believes himself to be
in possession of a mind uniquely his own, that is an
individualised mind. This is an illusion. What is unique
is the one cosmic mind. It is quiet absurd to think
of Nirvana as a state to be attained by some being.
There are in fact m:1ny Buddhas. The idea of BoddhisatVa
is implicit in the logic of Buddhism.
The Boddhisatva became a focus of devotion (Bhakti)
a sav io uz: of the world who had vowed not to enter the
final Nirvana until! all other sentient beings like
wise attained it~ It is for their sake that he consented
to be born again and again into the round of Samsara
(which refers to the everlasting round of birth and
death) until!, in the course of innumerable ages, even
the grass and the dust has attained Buddhahood.
7. Watts, Alan 'The way of Zen', Penguin, 1975, p.77.
8. Ibid. pp. 77-80. ·
102
One of the fundamental tenets of Mahayana Buddhism
is the belief that Nirvana does not emerge through
an anhiliation of the senses, nor is Nirvana a separate
entity from birth and death. You do not seek Nirvana
for it is a folly to look for what one has never lost.
Jung9 calls it 'the self liberating power of the introve-
rted mind'. The sphinx gazes at no distant horizon
across the sandy wastes. Its inflinching gaze is directed
inwards and its posture bares the calms arising out
of self-knowledge. The Buddha in other words is within
each one of us and Buddh~hood is simply the manifestation
of perfection already in man.
The Buddhist is a Bhikkhu (a begger) and is charac-
teristically represented by a begging bowl which he
takes from door to door to acquire his food. Even food
which is the basic necessity is not to be bothered
about. The only thought is Nirvana.
It is this essence of the Mahayana spirit which
is ingrained among the Tibetans, it moulds their attitude
to life, in fact their entire weltanschung.
Tibetah Buddhism, however, is a special form
of Mahayana BuddhismeDviz., Lamaism. In it an important
· 9. C.J.Jung: Tibetan Book of the Great Liberation (ed.) by W.Y.Evans Wentz Oxford University Press, London 1954 pp. 53-65.
.l () ~3
role is played by the Lama who is just not any monk
but a persons 1 spiritu.~l master or teacher (guru). The
interesting and significant characteristics of Lamaism
is that its central religious activity is the concern
of only the monks and hermits and is inaccessible to
ordinary belieyer. The latter pin their deep faith
on the members of the monastic community and can only
hope to improve their Karma through the giving of the
gifts to Monasteries, Lamas or the poor, by making
pilgrimages, lighting lamps before the images of deities
and asking the blessings of the Lama. The ordinary
folk or lay Buddhists do not hear sermons or have any
private prayers. They belong to that class of per sons
whose intellectual faculties are not developed enough.
Tibet is usually described as theocratic state
because the Dalai Lama (or the head) is considered
to be the incarnation of Avalokiteswara Tibets' patron
Boddhisatva .• But stein stresses that it would be more
accurate to speak of tibet as an ecclesiastical state~ 0
The Buddhist monasteries in Tibet were highly
privileged. They were exempted from tax and services
and may be regarded as independent overlords, for they
own land and serfs yielding them tax and services and
10. R.A. Stein: Op.Cit. pp. 138-139.
JOti
discharge all functions of authoritl.1 The monasteries
supply the government with officals and in this way
are able to exercise political control. In addition
to this the monasteries indulge in money-lending and
acquire thereby an extra source of revenue (fees) through
the performance of rites. Rich monks even own property
and have''two· monks as servants. The clear polarisation
of social classes is maintained inside the monasteries.
The impoverished lower clergy cannot afford to pay
for the lengthy studies needed to reach high monastic
positions and remain in the state of Avidya or ignorance,
and must devote their lives to one of deep and sincere
faith on the richer monks and lamas.
The Tibetan religious order is hierarchical and
highly authoritarian. At the top of this system is
the Dalai Lama who rules in consultation with his tutors.
(That is those who as authorities on religion taught
the Dalai -Lama in his younger days). At the lower rung
is the abbot who heads a monastery and is responsible
not only for maintaining the land and property of monast
ery but who in his capacity as religious head is also
expected to resolve the religious arguments that crop
up from time to time. Every abbot has five lamas assisting
him. The status of th•~ Lama depends on the number of
11. Ibid: pp. 172-173.
.105
oaths that he takes. The higher categories of lamas
take what is known as the complete oath which involvas
keeping two hundred and fifty vows.
Upward mobility in the religious hierarchy is
achieved with severe penances. Wnile one has to take
at least hundred vows to achieve the status of a lama
and pass r i gourous religious tests not many can keep
the vows and pass the tests and hence end up in the
lower order without reaching the status of lama.
The Dalai Lama in Tibet is not only a religious
au thor i ty but the political head as well. But though
in theory the Dalai Lama is the supreme and at the
top of the hierarchyJ in reality, the district and often
the village sub-divisions enjoy considerable autonomy
in the interpretation of laws and in their administration~ 2
The head of the district is a member of nobility who
is appointed by the Dalai Lama. The nobility is distingu
ished from the common people in Tibet and the nobility
enjoys certain privileges. The recruitment to the class
of nobles in Tibet is made on the following principles:-
1. A commoner family in which Dalai Lama is supposed
to be reincarnated is raised ·to the status of
12. Ibid. pp. 180-182.
lOG
nobles. This family receives a large estate from
the Government. Thus many of the Lhasan nobles
were desendants of the brothers of previous Dalai
Lama.
2. Some families are raised to the status of nobility
by the Government in return for the past services
as warrior, guards etc.
3. The third group of nobles consists of families
who trace their ancestories back to early monarchies
which existed prior to the rule of Dalai Larna~ 3
4. Some of the new noble families are descendants
of rna r r iage between the nobi 1 i ty of Tibet with
that of Sikkirn and neighbouring countries~ 4
The nobility in Tibet formed an endogamous group.
They manage e~tates for the Dalai Lama who in theory
owns all land in Tibet. The n:>!:::>les pay an annual rent
to the D~lai Lama for the estate they hold. The nobleman
has full rights of taxation and of administering justice
within his estate. He can select servants for his househ-
old amongst his serfs.
lB. Sir Chalres Bell, 'The People of Tibet', Oxford University Press London, 1968, pp.65-67.
14. Rinchen Dolrna Tsaring 'Daughter of Tibet the camelot Press Ltd. London, !970, pp. 81-82.
107
manuf a-
cturers of rugs and blankets which they export to other
countries. But their major source of livelihood comes
from the landed estate~ 5
Below the district administration, comes the
administration which is usually small village level
consisting of ten to twenty families belonging to a
clan organisation. It is a locus of patrileneal clan
and hence exogamous. The posit ion of the head of the
village is hereditary and is usually the clansman who
combines seniority with capability. He sits on the
Tribal council of the region as a rep:esentative of
his clan.
The tribal co unci 1 and the clan and at a st i 11
lower level the family, all represent the principle
of cooperation that works in the hierarchical Tibetan
social structure. The members of the village cooperate
in herding cattle. The responsibility assigned for
herding is that of the herdsmen of the village. Careful
compensations are made for those families who are short
in manpower because of the call for community work.
This type of cooperation extends to the Tribal level
14. Carrasco, Pedro, 'Land and Polity in Tibet•, Seattle, 1959, pp.lOl-102.
JOB
~dlso to organise raids and battle campaigns by the
'b 1 '1 16 Tr1 a counc1 .
The family is also organised on the principle
of cooperation in Tibet. The family is a corporate
unit possessing rights over lands and over pastures.
The noble families thus form a corporate unit with
rights of taxation over the landed estate. The families I
among the peasantry are also corporate entit!_es with
tenancy rights over land. ·To preserve the corporate
nature of the family, usually polyandry (especially
fraternal polyandry ) is practiced, though other types
of polyandry such as among friends, and among father
and sons when the father marries a second time are
also prevalent. The eldest son in the family becomes
the head of the family and his younger brothers have
to work under his jurisdictiori within the family corporate.
The_ cooperation and corporate living embodied
in the Tibetan society is however not universal. Among
the commoners, there exists a group called the Du-Jung,
where family does not act as a corporate entity. Access
to land among them is on an individual basis and they
practice monogamy and polygyny~ 7
16. T.C. Palakshappa op.cit. pp.27.
17. Ibid. pp. 30-31.
JOD
It is to be noted that the control exercised
by the district over the village and by the central
governments over the districts is dependent on the
geographical location of the districts and the villages.
In 'the remoter areas of Tibet, pGlitical control of
the Central Government is almost negligible due to
bad communications and transport during the winter
season. The ecology of Tibet modifies the political
hierarchy and grants considerable autonomy at the village
and district level.
The principle of cooperation which widely operates
in the traditional Tibetan social structure is inter-
related with the Mahayana philosophy of collective
Nirvana. No man attains Nirrana alone. Liberation is
a collective aim and a Bodhisatava is b·:>rn again and
again till all his other fellow men achieve the p•aace
of the noble silence, the realisation of the truth. -
The quientessence of this philosophy is expressed through
the dominant principle of cooperation prevalent in
the Tibetan social structure.
This principle of cooperation works not only
at the level of the tribal village, clan and family,
but also within the context of secular hierarchy. The
hierarchy ls based mainly on rights over the land.
The nobles who hold estates engaged serfs to till the
1.10
land. There are different categories of serfs. According
to gold stein, as quoted by palakshappa, there are
two rna jor types of serfs as indicated in the follo'.ving
d . 18 1agrarn.
Serf
Tax payer {Khralpa)
Bound dudchung
Dudchung
Human lease Dudchung.
Charles bell identifies another category of serfs
whom he regards as the rnasterless peasants. These peasant~
are dependent on the regular taxpaying serfs to whom
they rent land. The serf became bound to his landlord
b-ecause of the low productivity of land which makes
him borrow in order to survive. Manty of the serfs
who live- in abject poverty are indebted to nobility,
monasteries and large landowners for nearly three genera-
tions. The serfs are therefore not only· tied to the
land but also to the nobility. There is no way out
of this system for the serf except through joining
the priestly order, which also is difficult if not
insurrnountable~ 9
18. Ibid. pp.39.
19. Charles Bell, Op.Cit. pp.85-87.
Besides agricultural and
stratifies the society into
.11.1
animal husbandry which
distinct 1 estates 1 the
Tibetan economy comprises of a trader class also. The
trader class could be regarded as the middle class.
However, trading is also indulged in by the nobility.
Trading involved, till the Chinese occupation of Tibet
the import of salt, cotton goods and luxury articles
for the nobility. The chief export i terns were wool,
yak-tail, hide, borax and herbs. There also existed
in Tibet highly skilled artisans such as Carpenters
Painters, builders and iron-smiths to m~ke weapons.
But the category of artisans did not enjoy a high status
in the Buddhist society of Tibet.
Thus we notice that the Tibetan social and political
structure while being hierarchical provided considerable
autonomy for the villages, partly because of the geography
of Tibet. Further, cooperation forms a dominant th•:me
in Tibetan-society ranging from the family to the nation.
This spirit of cooperation is infused not only by the
Tibetan Buddhism which emphasises on collective Nirvana
but also by the Dalai Lama who is the supreme authority
both in the religious and the secular spheres of Tibetan
social life. Further, although Mahayana Buddhism emphasised
112
>ther worldly concerns, it nevertheless recognised
:he this worldly co~cerns of the laity which was necessary
:o maintain its polity and economy.
PUNJABIS
The term Panjabis for the purpose of our
study includes sikhs - khatris and aroras and the
Brahmins and clean-shaven Hindu khatris and aroras
and the menial castes and tribes such as Ra i -sikhs.
I have purposely clubbed these groups together for
the sake of manageability into the term 'Panjabis".
Panjabis have been variously described as aggressive,
enterprising, lover of good things in life,labourious
and belonging to martial race. His industriousness
and entrepreneurship have made them famous in not
only contemporary India but abroad as well. This
has given rise to a image which at times looks larger
than the life. This in turn has further provided
an impetus to create an aura of laurels around the
Panjabi's. The summation of all this results into
the development of a 'stereotype' of Panjabis harbouring
all the characteristics listed above.
- At this juncture, a pertinent question arises
as to what extent the stereotype of a community repres
ents its true character. In answer to this query
one can say that the stereotype is an often offshoot
of the cumulative traits and heritage of a community.
111
It includes socio-cultural milieu, hearsays, folk
songs, idioms, philosophy, creed. f~ethos of a community.
Hence for the research purposes one can rely on these
as far as the analysis of a community's past is cancer-
ned and the operationalization of it in present.
As regards the community's past, so much
can be gleaned from the imperial Gazetteer and other
source material, that a fairly accurate picture of
the community can be reconstructed in terms of social-
economic and geographical settings. The geographical
setting of undivided Panjab i.e. before partition
in 1947 as described in Imperial Gazetteer has been
reproduced below.
In its strict etymological sense the Punjab,
or 'land of five rivers' is the country enclosed
and watered by Jhelum, Chanab, Ravi, Beas and Sutlej.
The province lies between 27° 39' and 34° 2'N and
69° 23' and 79° 2' E having a total area of 36,532
square miles.
On the north the Himalayan ranges divide
the Punjab from Kashmir and the North-West frontier
province on the west the indus forms its main boundary
with the latter province except that the Panjab includes
115
the strips of riverine which forms the Isa Khel Tehsil
of Mianwali district, west of that river. its south
western extremity also lies west of the Indus and
forms the large district of Dera-Ghazikhan, thereby
extending its frontier to the Sulaiman range, which
divides it from Baluchistan, on the extreme South
west is the Sind, and the Rajputana desert forms
its southern border on the East, the Jamuna and its
tributary the tons divide it from the United Provinces
of Agra and Oudh, its
of the latter river
Tibet.
frontier north of the
being contiquous with
Sources
Chinese
The province falls into five main physical
divisions. Three of these
the Himalayan submontane
Jamuna to the salt range
that range are small in
is the most fertile and
the Himalayan region,
which stretches from the
and the grid plateau of
area, but the submontane
wealthiest in the Pan jab.
The other two are the arid south-western plains and
the western portion of the Indo-Gangetic plain west
which extends as far westward as Lahore. Both these
divisions are of vast extent, but infertile towards
the south where they encroach on the plains of the
sind and Rajputana.
J.lG
The Panjab proper comprises five doabs, or
tracts lying between two rivers. These received their
names from the emperor Akbar, who formed them by
combining the first letters of the names of the rivers
between which they lie. They are: The Bist-Jullundhar
also called the Sehorwal. Doab, lying between the
Beas and Sutlej; the Bar i, between the old bed of
the Beas and Ravi; the Rechna (Rachinab, or Rachin-
ao),between the Ravi and the Chanab; the Chinhat,
between the Chanab and the Bihat (another name for
the Jhelum), also called the Chaj; and the Sind-Sagar
between the Indus and the Jhelum or Bihat. The who!~
central Panjab is a vast alluvial plain. All the
seven great rivers of the Panjab rise in the Himalayas,
and after long courses sometimes of several hundred
miles, amid snow-clad ranges, they debouch on the
plains.
~ver the greater part of the Punjab the climate
is of the most pronounced continental character,
extreme summer heat alternating with great winter
cold~ 0
20. The imperial and Tomorrow pp. 255-256.
gazetteer printers
of &
India. Vol.XX, Publishers,New
Today Delhi
117
Geographically Punjab had been the northern
land gateway to the Indo-Gangetic plain. Except for
the European powers, virtually every invader had
entered India through the Panjab. By the same taken,
regimes securly based on the Gangetic plains such
as the Mauryas, The Delhi Sultanate, the Mughals,
and the British attempted to expand via Punjab into
Central Asia. Because of this, on the one hand the
character of the Punjabi people, as a whole, has
been shaped into one of self-reliance and initiative,
constantly vigil~nt against external damagers, and
on the other the religio-political elements of the
diverse cultural traditions (Muslim, Hindu and Sikh)
have constantly had an impact on the people at one
time or the other. As a consequence on the one hand
the prevailing form of social co-operation and the
type of political solidarity bear loss reference
to 'caste' and rules of purity and pollution, then
to the family unit and its values. On the other,
in spite of a geographical homogen',ei.ty, a Uniform
historical legacy and a number of common characteristics,
various economic, religious, social and cultural
differences divide the p~ople sharply~ 1
21. Amarjit Singh narang, 'Punjab: Development and Politics,in land, caste and politics in Indian states, Ed.by Gail Omvedt,Department of Political Science,University of Delhi,l982,pp.ll4-115.
1.18
Panjab became a meeting place of various
people and a melting-pot of diverse cultures in ancient '
times on account of invasions. Hence its society
became heterogeneous and heterdox and detracted from
the standards of the conservative people. The puritans
nestled themselves in the Gangetic Valley and branded
the Panjabis impure and impious and shunned contact
with them. The literature of this region-breaths
a spirit of revolt against the people of Panjab.
But in this land of sin and sacrilege there was a
unique widening of horizons and broadening of perspect-
ives as a consequence of the coming and mingling
of various peoples and their cultures. The result
of this is the levelling down of the walls of tradition,
demolished the towers of isolationism and breathed
in the open air of syncretism. This in turn led to
the development of a vast 'Weltanshaung•~ 2
·The above account depicts clearly the Panjabis
as people who are not stickler of the notions of
hierarchy and purity and pollution which has otherwise
en~eloped the entire Hindu society. The barriers
of caste are not all that rigid in Panjab .as elsewhere
in the country.
22. Budh Prakash, 'Political and Social Movements in Ancient Punjab. Motilal banarsidass,Delhi 1964 pp. 2 52-2 53.
1.1 ~J
Punjab has been pointed out as one of the
notable exceptions to the caste system in India.
This is due to Muslim and Sikh influences, which
theoretically are against the caste system, and to
the role of the Hindu revivalist movement Arya Samaj
in Punjab.
Although, the sikh religion discourages
division of society on the basis of caste, the crusade
against the caste system has only been partially
successful. The caste system current today divides
the Sikhs into three: agriculturists (Jats}, non
agriculturists and Harijans. This division, though
based on birth, is not as vicious as the tradition
caste system in the sense that all sikhs have access
to all gurdwars. Moreover, each major caste, in large
as measure, is as soc ia ted with an economic category.
Broadly, the landowners are jats, the middlemen,
shopkeepers and businessmen are khatris and Aroras
(Non-Jats) and a high percentage of labourers, in
industry and on the land are scheduled castes (Majhbis).
On account of Jat sikhs embracing the religion
earlier than the others, it is the jat social values
.120
which have become basic sikh values. One of the fundam-
ental traits of Jat character has been the instinct
of" tribal freedom and tribal kinship. The 'Jats•
organisation by clans is notorious and they are naturall
grouped in village communities. This tribal solidarity place
among them form an important /in their daily lives,
the mode of production isolates each Jat family from
others and competition over land divides them internally
consequently fact ions exist to provide a collective
protection to each individual family in its friendships
d . t. 23 an enm1 1es.
Among the non-Jat Sikhs are mainly Khatris
and Aroras. Traditionally, they were the trading,
banking and moneylending classes. Also among Hindus
non-agriculturist the socially and politically important
caste groups have been Khatris, Aroras and Aggarwals.
All these being business groups concentrated in cities
have common economic interests as against rural jat
interests. An important clevage within the Hindu
community is that between the reformis~ section known
as the Arya Samaj and the orthodox section called
the Sanatan Dharm.
23. Amarjit Singh Narang,'Punjab Development and Politics in Land,~Caste and politics in Indian Statej Ed.by Gail Omved .Deptt.of Political Scien~e,Univ.of Delhi,l982,pp.ll8-120.
121
As regards the general distribution of menial
castes which comprises of all the lower strata of
society such as the vagarants, criminal and gypsy
tribes, the village menials and the industrial classes.
The vagarant tribes are chiefly to be found in two
garts of the province, on the Rajputana bqrder and
under the central and Western hills. The village
menial castes prevail throughout the eastern districts,
the hills and the great sikh states. But they seem
to be sort of absent in the west and particularly
on the indus frontier. This is partly because the
hereditary restrictions upon occupation are more
lax and people do not consider shameful the earning
of their bread by callings which in other, provinces
would involve social degradation where caste-feelings
24 are stronger.
As regards the actual operation of caste
system in Panjab, the sikh community officially and
in its system of religious beliefs repudiates the
concept of caste. It also shows no recognition of
the concept of hierarchy as such.
24. Denzil Ibbetson, 1 Pan jab Castes 1 , B. R. Publishing Corporation,Delhi-1916,pp.25-29
in the
The non-acceptance of hierarchy
value system by the principle
.1?2
is expressed
of equality,
a principle which is supported and sustained by other
traditional customary values such as reputation,
respect and prestige. The social expression of the
egalitarian principle is indeed that the very varied
and totally different sets of relationships that
a man has are not seen as excluding or contradicting
one another. Social networks include multiple ties
with men of different types.
caste solidarity in Panjab rarely-operated
in practice. The only customs in which any solidarity
was expressed among the Jats on a caste basis was
that in the villages they did not visit the houses
of Mazhbias, take food from them, eat with them or
intermarry with them. Jats, Khatris, Aroras all ate
with one another and there was also an increasing
number of cases of inter-marriage between them. In
villages, neither Jats nor Mazhbis had any solidarity
on a caste. basis. jat landlords, on antagonistic
terms with one another forced those Mazhbi who they
had recruited to work for them to support them politic
ally. Allegiances were thus cross caste allegiances
and it is more helpful to look at them in terms of
a patron attaching himself to certain clients who
relative to him are in an economically depressed
..
J 2:3
situation. The kind of relationship a Jat landlord
had with the Mazhbis, the same he had with small
proprietors who were in some way indebted to him
as with tenants. The core of the relationship was
the same in all these instances and unaffected by
25 caste.
The loosening up of caste rigidities has
its genesis in the Sikh religion. It dates back to
the days of Guru Nanak, the founder of the Sikh faith.
He had evolved a discipline which found practical
expression in the path conceived by him· to be offered
to everyone, irrespective of one's caste creed or
sex. He attack the caste system. Before God, the
distinctions based on birth were at best meaningless,
infact, such distinctions became invidious when they
implied the denial of salvation to a large number
of people. One does not become high before God by
regarding oneself 'high'. Every individual was equal
before the Guru and all the followers were equal
before one another.
25. Joycee Pettigrew, 'Robber Nobleman' .a study of political systems of Sikh Jats Routledge and Kegan Paul,London, 1975, pp. 44-45.
said that a Sikh should be a proof against sensual
temptation and indulgence. The watchwords of a Sikh
should be continence, truth, contentment, mercyJduty,
humility and service. he should not live on charity;
he must earn his own livelihood through honest means.
For a Sikh, the communal brotherhood was more important
than the ties of kinship. A sikh should always be
ready to share his food, clothes and other belongings
with the needy~ 6
All this and much more have gone into the
building up of the personality of Khalsa (one who
is pure). Furthermore the Sikh religion encourages
worldly success and social responsibility, values
which have obviously helped their progress. Sikhism
centres around Nam (worship) and Seva (service).
The trait of hardworking amongst the Panjabis -
also found its expression in the exhortation of the
Guru Nanak which is given as below:
26. J .s. Grewal, 1 Essays in Sikh History 1 , From Guru Guru Nanak to Maharaja Ranjit Singh Guru Nanak University, Amritsar, 1972, pp. 1-78.
Only he finds the true path of life who earns
his bread by the Sweat of his brow and shares the
fruit thereof with his fellow-beingg.
These ideas had taken root and under his
nine successors Sikhism had become a thoroughly
. 1 1' . 27 pract1ca re 1g1on.
Moreover, Gurus also believed that the
individual must play full role in the affairs of
the community and be in possession of spiritual
as well as physical qualities. It is imperative
that spiritual achievement should be combined with
physical powers, because the one without the other
may degenerate into sheer hypocrisy or ruthless
tyranny. That is why the Gurus, particularly the
last, besides advocating spiritual uplift had attem-
pted to revive the old Kshatriya spirit of valor
by means of heroic literature, marital training
and glorification of weapons of war. They had been
convinced that the people must develop their spirit-
ual, mental and physical faculties so that they may develop a
21. Fauja Singh; 'Some aspects of State and Society under Ranjit Singh. Master Publishers, New Delhi,l982, pp.l9-20.
12G
well balanced personality and plan their due role
in the affairs of the society. it is only such people
as are at once saints and soldiers, who can resist
evil or fight t)franny in any form and help in the
maintenance of conditions necessary to the advancement
. . 28 of the individual and the soc1ety.
Since, it is a well known fact that religion
plays a very pivotal role in not only shaping, moulding
and directing the 1 i ves of the people, but also acts
.as a repository of faith for the vast masses. Needless
to say that Sikhism too had profoundly affected the
life styles, thinking and philosophy of the Sikhs
in particular and the Hindus in general. It had injected
into the personalities of Hindus and Sikhs in Panjab
certain traits which taken together constitute the
1 Stereotype 1 • of Panjabis. The specific and peculiar
characteristics of the Panjabi stereotype would mainly·
include, industriousness; hardworking, aggressive,
martial, roboust, gun weilding, proudy, lover of
wealth J women and wine, gregarious etc. As to what
extent this Panjabi stereotype befits our situation
in the Tarai, that we shall be analysing in the data
2 8. Ibid; pp. 2 6-2 7.
analysis chapter. Here we got to see if ·there are
other supportive evidences for this stereotype. one
such example is a study conducted on Sikhs in Canada. D
In the opinion of yehl in, 'the sikhs have long been
noted for their power to adapt themselves to circurnsta-
nces they cannot control. Their practical optimism
and freedom from apathy has led them to accept whatever
befalls in the providence of God and try to turn
it to their own advantage.
In canada, too, the Sikhs showed thi~ ability.
They not only adapted thernsel ves to a new c 1 irna te
and a new civilization, but to new occupations as
well. Corning from the f·arrns of Panjab, they got constr-
uction jobs on the Canadian railways. Later they
turned to lumber industry, so that one authority
was compelled to say that these farmers from Panjab
have not only adapted themselves to work in the moist
forests of western Canada, but they have mastered
the mechanized skills of the more intricate mill
work.
Their success as orchard agriculturists
is seen in the peach farming in sutter country. While,
in 19.66 they owned 20% of the farms, they produced
35% of the peach tonnage. Most now live in modest
128
houses with plumbing, electricity, gas for cooking
and heating. This is far different from the living
conditions of the early settlers, who often slept
on the ground around open fires, or in barns on the
hay; their cooking was over camp-fires, their food
the simplest. They worked ten or twelve hours a day
for a dollar and a half and yet they managed to save.
Their adaptability, their determination to save part
of their income however meagre, alongwith hardwork
and the 'Khalsa Spirit' of helping each other out
with the lending of tools and equipment, have all
contributed to the prosperity of the Sikh farming
. 29 commun1ty.
This description of the Sikhs is more or
less close to the image of stereotype and that it
match perfectly albeit with some aberrations. As
regards the Khatri's and Aroras, the traditional
mercantile castes of Panjab, it would not be exa~eration
to say that they held almost a complete monopoly
of trading and banking. We get a fair picture of
29. C.H.Loehlin, 'The Sikhs in California', in Harbans Singh and N.; Gerald Barrier Ed. 'Panjab Past and Present - Essays in the honour of Dr.Ganda Singh Panjabi University, Patiala 1976 pp.295-297.
these castes during Ran j it Singh time. Although all
categories of traders were benefited during his regime
but the maximum advantage went to the Khatri s and
Aroras of the Punjab. The extension of Ranjit Singh's
rule towards the indus and beyond opened out vast
new opportunities of trade and commerce. These opportu
nities were fully exploited by these people. The
Khatris mostly spread out along the Grand trunk Road
in the direction of Peshawar while the Aroras extended
th€ir activities in the direction of Multan. They
ran shops in villages, in towns and near mi 1 i tary
cantonments; acted as money lenders and sarafs; and
supplied goods to troops under march and in camp.
Wherever it was possible they acquired lands and
devoted part of their time to cultivation. The Aroras
in the South-west Panjab particularly evinced consider
able interest in cultivation and their settlements
became a by-word for admiration of individual enterprise.
In their various com~ercial pursuits the Khatris
and Aroras were at a great advantage as compared
with the
to the
both at
traders of other communities.
fact that the administration
the level
This was due
of the state,
local administrative
of centre and the level of the
units, was domina ted by people
who hailed from the same social stock, and many of
them were bound together by close kinship ties. Moreover
the Bed is, the Sodhis, the Trehans and the Bhallas
among them 'being associated with the families of
the Sikh gurus were specially favoured by the state~?
The above description shows clearly that
the mercantile castes viz Khatris and Aroras have
been oriented to the practices and intricacies of
trade long back. This shows they are conversant with
the practice of agriculture also. Reproduced here
below is the extract from Sir George · Campbells's
Ethnology in India, which describes the position
of Khatris and Aroras.
"Trade is their main occupation; and besides
monopolising the trade of the Pan jab, they are the
civil administrators and have almost all literate
work in-their hands. The Khatris are one of the most (U.'t~e. t~e, energetic and remarkable races in India. They
are staunch Hindus and generally educated. No village
can get on without the Khatri who keeps the accounts
does the bankin~ business and buys and sell the grain.
They seem, too,. to get on with the people better
than, most traders and usurers of this kind. In
30. Fauza Singh, op.cit. pp. 276-277.
Afghanistan, among a rough and alien people, the
Khatris are as a rule confined to the position of
humble dealers, shop-keepers, and money-lenders.'
Regarding the Aroras, he is often called
as the trader par excellence of the South-Western
portion of the Panjab, that is to say the lower valleys
of our five rivers. More than half the Aroras of
the Panjab dwell in the Multan and Derajat divisions.
Like the Khatrij and unlike the Baniya, he is no e..
mtre trader; but his social position is far inferior
to theirs. he is commonly known as a Kirar, a word
almost synonymous with coward and even more contemptuo.us
than is the name Baniya in the east of the province.
The Arora is active and enterprising, industrious
and thrifty. He will turn his hand to any work, he
makes a most admirable cultivator. In the western
Panjab he sews clothes, weave matting and baskets,
make vessels of brass and copper, and do goldsmiths
work."he is also branded in the local proverbs like,
This,-vex not the Jat in his jungle, or the Kirar at
his shop, or the boatman at his ferry; for if you
do, they will breal< your head. Again 'Trust not a
crow, a dog or a Kirar, even when asleep'. so again,
'you can't make a friend of a Kirar any more than
a Sati of a prostitute'. The Arora is of inferior
physique his character is thus summed up by M.v.Thorburn
"A cowardly, secretive, acquisitive race - the qualities
both depised and envied by the great tribes of Panjab" 31
Thus the above description of Khatri s and
Aroras as described historically perfectly matches
the stereotype of Panjabis developed of late in
the Tarai belt. It shows two things. Firstly, the
orientation and a way of life of co~munity plays
an important role wherever and whenever they happen
to be either in their own area or elsewhere. They
would normally be the carriers of the traits learnt
and inherited at the level of socialization.
The last in the ethnological detail of
the Panjab with which we are concerned is the tribe
of Rai-Sikhs. As quoted by Amir Hasan, they are tough,
ruthless and are an ex-criminal tribe. They are a
~o;t of vagabonds and would do anything for a consider
ation like killing ,kidnapping, lifting the cattles 0
and women folk of other castes. They are alcor{_lic
and sometimes distill their own liquor~ 2
31. Denzil Ibbetson; op.cit. pp. 247-251.
32. Amir Hasan, 'The Buxas of the Tarai B.R.Publishing Corporation Delhi 1979,pp.93,233,240.
The vernaculars of Panjab belong entirely
to the Aryan family of languages. These languages
are divided into numerous dialects. The 'western
Panjabi (also called Jatki, 'The Jats' Speech and
Multani comprises the Hindko, Pothwari, Chikhali,
Dhundi, Ghebi and _1\wanbari. Eastern Panjabi has two
main dialects: the standard of the Majha, or central
part of the Baridaob, Spoken round Amritsar; and
that of the Malwa, the tract sou~h of Sutlej. Western
Hindi comprises Har iani (The dialect of Haryana),
Bangru that of Bangar, J atu (the Jat speech) and
Ahirwari (The Ahir Speech).
The ethnic type in Panjab is distinctly
Aryan, there being few traces of also original or
foreign bl0od. The typical Panjabi is tall spare
but muscular, broad-shouldered, with full dark eyes
and an ample beard. The hair is invariably black
but the complexion varies from a deep olive brown
to wheat coloured. As a rule the lower classes are
darker than the upper, and the complexion is fairer
in the north-west than in the south-east. The Jats
of Manjha and Malwa exhibit a splendid physique,
and the peas an try of the plains are gene rally a five
people~ 3
33. The Imperial Gazetteer of India op.cit.pp.284-?Rh~
J ;~ 1
The staple food consists of the grain grown
locally. Well-to-do peopl,= eat wheat and rice, while
the ordinary peasants food consists chiefly of wheat-
barley and grain. In the west and south-west Bajra
(spiked-millet) is mostly consumed in the winter.
Pulses and vegetables are eaten with bread by prosperous
zamindars and towns people; but the poorer classes
who cannot always afford them merely mix salt in
their bread and if possible eat it with butter-milk
and green mustard with bread. Ghi is used only by
those who can afford it. Meat is seldom eaten except
by the better classes, and by them only on occassions
of rejoicing or by way of hospitality. The common
beverages are buttermilk, water mixed with milk and
sugar, country sherbats and sardai a cooling drink.
Hemp is ordinarily drunk by the religious mendicants
(fakirs). In towns cows milk is used, but in rural
tracts buffaloes is prefer red as being richer. In
the camel-breed tractycamels' milk is also drunk~ 4
The dress of the people is of the simplest
kind and, in the plains, made entirely of cotton
34. The Imperial Gazetteer of India op.cit.pp.290-293.
135
cloth. A turban a lion-cloth, a loose wrap thrown
round the body like a plaid, and, in the cold season, a.Y
a vest or jacket of some kind, are the usual gt~ments.
White is the usual colour but dyed stuffs are often
worn especially on festive occasions. As a rule muslims
avoid red and prefer green. Hindus similarly avoid
blue, but it is the characteri~tic dress of sikh
zealots, like the Akalis.
Women are far more conservative and the
influence of Islam has brought about the adoption
of trouser (Salvar) instead of the Hindu Skirt (Sari)
which is only general in the So~th-east. Here again
local and tribal customs vary. Thus Rajput women,
Hindu as well as Muslims wear the trouser (Salvar)
and Gujjars 'the Petticoat while many sikh and Hindu
Jat women wear both. The wrap or chaddar is universally
worn; and the parda system compels most Muslims and
- rna n y H i n d u and S i k h 1 ad i e s of the bet t e r c 1 ass e s
to wear, when compelled to leave the house, an ungainly
and uncomfortable veil (Burka) which covers the whole
form.
The ordinary peasants' house is not comfortable,
though hardly attractive) built of mud with a flat
] I) f' - I) )
roof and rarely decorated, it is cooler in summer
and warmer in winter than a·house of brick or stone.
I n the c i t i e s , srra 11 houses have long been the rule.
The furniture of an ordinary house is cheap and simple,
comprising a few str1ng beds; stools, boxes, spining-
wheels, and cooking utensils with a grain receptacle
of mud.
BENGALIS
J :3 7
The erstwhile Bengal was the largest and most
popular in India. It lies between 19° 18' and 28° 15'N
:md between 82° and 97° E. The province is bounded on
the north by Nepal and Tibet and by the mighty chain
of Himalayas, on the east by Assam and the continuation
of the range of hills which divides Assam from Burma
on the South by the Bay of Bengal and Madras, and on
the west by the United and central provinces.
The most distinctive feature of the province
is its network of rivers - The ganges and the Brahmputra, .
with their affluents and Tributaries. These rivers are
of use in many ways. They furnish an admirable and cheap
means of transport; they contain an inexhaustible supply
of fish,and they bring down vast quality of fertilizing
silb which they distribute over the surface of delta.
The people of Bengal appear from their physical
type to belon:J to three distinct stocks Dravidian,
Mongoloid and Aryan. In 1903, in the province as a whole·,
out of every 100 persons,95 lived in ·villages and only-
5 in towns. Bengal is distinctly an agricultural country.
The most striking feature of East Bengal was that nearly
two-thirds of population who are either landlords or
tenants depend on agriculture.
one or
The
the
languages spoken in Bengal belong to
other of four linguistic families viz.
Aryan, Dravidian, Munda or Kolarian and Tibeto-Burman.
Of these, the languages of the Aryan family are by
far the most important, being spoken by no less than
95 percent of the total population.
In East Bengal, the cultivator takes as a
rule three meals a day. He begins in the early morning
with rice left over from the previous nights' supper,
parched or popped rice and jack-fruit or mango when
in season. The midday and evening meals have boiled
rice as their foundation and with it are mixed pulses
of different kinds, fish or vegetables.
The garments commonly worn by men are the
dhoti or waist cloth and the chadar or loose cloth
worn over the shoulders. Those who can afford it wear
a piran or coat. Among the strict Farazi Muhammadans
of Eastern Bengal, the dhoti is worn as a lungi or
kilt, and is frequently of coloured cloth. Muha~madans
wear a skull-cap, and Hindus a Pagr i. For women, the
sari is almost universal, one end being worn over
the head and sho~lders and fastened to the waist.
In the towns men wear an english shirt over the dhoti,
the tails hanging loose, and a chadar over the shoulders,
English socks, loose slippers or shoes, and an umbrella
complete the costume. All but the very poorest women
wear ornaments on wrist, neck and ankle, they are
35 generally of silver brass or lac.
The houses in lower Bengal are not congregated
into villages, b:1t each homestead stand in its own
orchard of fruit and palm trees. The sites have been
laboriously raised by. excavation, which has left tanks
in every compound, and the houses are erected on mud
plinths and bu i 1 t round a courtyard with wooden or
bamboo posts and interlaced walls of split bamboo,
with thatched roofs resting on a bamboo framework.
The chief amusement of people lies in attending
the fairs which are held all over the province. These
gatherings are at stated seasons, generally in connection
with some bathing festival or other religious ceremony,
and are attended by numerous hawkers, who set up booths
for the sale of miscellaneous articles. The religious
mertlicants, jugglers, actors,musicians, all of whom
35. The a1d pp.
Imperial Gazet1~r Tomorrows Printers 194-239.
of India Vol.III, and Publishers New
Today Delhi
J40
contribute their quota to the ~ntertainment of the
crowd. Every market is thronged by gaily dressed crowds
who exchange the gossip of the day and discuss the
latest cause-celebre while making their purchases.
The great annual religious festivals afford an excuse
for merry gatherings, when memb2rs congregate in the
f~elds and amuse themselves with wrestling, hook swinging
etc. Football is by far the most popular outdoor game
and huge crowds assemble on the maidan.
The general characteristics which distinguish
agricultural conditions in Bengal are a regular and
copius rainfall, a fertile soil and a dense population
subsisting on the produce of land. Not only do the
eastern districts receive a great deal more rain,
but owing to the annual overflow of the great rivers
that traverse them they remain practically under
water for six months in the year and the people live
on 1 it tle- island mounds and can move about only by
boat. The surface of this tract is low and flat, and
much of it is covered with h·Jge marshes where rice
and jute luxuriate. In fact in the east of the province
rice and jute are grown exclusively, the farmer occupying
two-thirds and both together, no less than three fourths,
36 of the gross cropped area.
3 6. Ibid, pp. 2 4 0-2 4 2.
.141
The Bengali is a very clever fisherman. In
the bay of Bengal he practises deep - sea fishing
drying his catch ashore on stakes driven into some
sandy beach. The larger rivers are trawled from
a sailing boat and the smaller streams are fished
from weirs.
The Hindu Society in Bengal has been tradition
ally divided into two major castes or varnas, namely
the Brahman and Sudra. below the Sudras there were
the untouchables and the tribal people or antyajas
and Mleehchhas, but the kshtriya and vaishyas, the
two other major varnas of the ancient Indian society
have been almost non-existent (except in seattered
groups) in this part of the country at least since
the 12th-13th centuries A.D.
The ritual status of the different castes
was determined theoretically by the nature of their
occupatio~ or profession. Certain occupations or
professions were traditionally reg:irded as superior
or more sacred than others, and those who were engaged
in these occupations heredita~ily were given a higher
status in the social hierarchy than those who were
J42
d . . f . 1 d t. 37 engage 1n 1n er1or or ess sacre voca 10ns. The
functional character of the caste system is quite
obvious and was designed to build up a non-competitive
productive organisation in our country. Caste provided
some sort of a guarantee of occupation to every
individual member of the society, and that is why
it m~naged to survive the political upheavals of
centuries.
As regards the origin of Brahmins in Bengal
the legend has it that the king Adisura invited
five Brahmins from Kananj to perform some sacrifies,
as the Brahmins of Bengal were ignorant of Vedas.
These Brahmins were ultimately settled in Bengal
and were granted villages for maintenance. They
derived their surnames from these villages, and
were the forefathers of the entire Brahmna community
of modern Bengal with the exception of a few minor
groups ltke the Vaidikas, who come at a later period~ 8
37. Amitabh Mukherjee, The Transformation of Caste, in modern Bengal, A Socio Economic Survey, Institute of Historical Studies, Calcutta 1973, pp.68-70.
38. R.C.Majumdar, "The History of Bengal", Vol.I Hindu Period, N.V.Publications, Patna, 1971, pp.575-580.
Thus from the name of the village Bandya
or Bandyaghati we get the surname of Bandya+Upadhyaya
or Teacher = Bandyopadhyaya 1 corrupted into Bannerjee.
From the village Mubhati comes the surname Mukha
+ Upadhyaya = Mukhopadhyaya or Mukherjee. The village
catta gives the name of catta + Upadhyaya = Cattopadh
yaya or Chatterjee. The surname Gangopadhyaya or
Ganguli comes from the village Gangul 1 Ghosala from
the village Ghosa or Ghosali 1 Pipali or Piplai from
Pippal 1 Kanjilal from Kanji 1 Gargari from Gargar 1
Mahin tya from Mahanta 1 Simla i from Simla 1 S iddhala
from Siddhal etc.
The functions af the Ksh t r iya or the rna r t ial
caste were discharged in Bengal by members of the
some of the lowest castes like the Goala 1 Bagdi 1
Hari and Dome. The Aguris or Ugrakshatriyas of the
Burdwan district were drawn equally to the agricultural
and marital professions.
The nineteenth century saw a radical change
in the occupational pattern of many of the trading
3nd artisan castes. Though higher or English education
was dominated by the three upper castes - Brahm~n,
Vaidya and Kayastha even at the end of 19th century,
144·
the census figures reveal that it was slowly percolat
ing among the lower castes too.
In subsequent years artisan castes of bengal
like Kamar, Kumar, Chamar and Muchi have drifted
either toward agricultural labour or skilled labour
in industries other than their traditional ones,
while castes like Bagdi whose traditional occupation
was labour in the fields have maintained it to an
appreciable extent.
As occupational mobility increased movement
uf the social groups in the 19th century, attempts
were made by various castes and subcastes to achieve
a better position for themselves in the social hierarchy
The caste structure in Bengal was probably much
less rig'id than in m:my other parts of India even
in the pre-British period. The Brahmans though enjoying
a very high ritual status, had to share social and
economic power with the vaidyas and the Kyasthas.
The Nam csu dras who formed a very large com11uni ty
in East Bengal were treated by the upper castes
as chandals or untouchables. Early in the 20th century
some of the Namasudras claimed recognition as Brahmin
and assumed the new caste-name of Namobrahman. B~t
145
this claim was not taken serio~sly by the Hindu
0 t 39 Soc1e y.
There are two classes of traders in Bengal,
one who buys and sells goods which are produced
by others, and the o:her who produces goods and
sells them to others. Outside Bengal the first class
as merchants . and bankers, is regarded as Vaisya,
while the second class, as artisans, is ranked as
sudra. if the Vaishyavarna had not disappeared in
Bengal, caste like Swarnbanik, Gandhabanik, tili,
saha etc., whose professions are trading and banking
only, would have been called vaisyas while black-
smiths, potters, weavers etc, who are both artisans
and traders would have ranked as lower in social
status.
But as the r e i s no 'J a i s y a varna in Bengal,
they are all grouped together aS I good I SUdraS Under
the name of Navasakha. ordinary brahmins are not
degraded by acting as priests to them. Navasakha
originally meant nine branches or subdivisions,
39. N.K. Dutt: Origin and Growth of caste in India, Vol.II, Castes in Bengal, Firma K.L. Mukhopadhyay, Calcutta, 1969 pp. 3-5.
.l4G
but subsequent promotions from lower orders have
. d f h t . 40 1ncrease to ourteen at t e presen t1me.
They are Tili (originally dealer in sesame
seed or betelnut, now general mercha,t, Mali (gard,er
and flower garland maker) Tambuli (dealer in betel-
leaf and food-grains), Gopa in the restricted meaning
of sadgopa (agriculturist), Napit (barber) Together
with Madhu napit (sweatmeat seller), Gochali or
Barui (betel-leaf-grower) Kamar (blacksmith), Kumar
(potter), Tanti (weaver), sanbhabanik (conchshell
worker), Kamsyabanik (bellmetal-worker), and Kuri
koria (dealer in sweets. The Dhobas or washerm:xn
are regarded as unclean sudras, and brahmanas do
not take water touched by them. A peculiar caste
is the yogi which is neither functional nor tribal.
It is a sectarian caste o They are believed to be
the degraded descendants of a class of Buddhist '
ascetics o·- They are found principally in the eastern
district as weavers, small traders and cultivators.
As regards some tribal and cultivating castes,
in Bengal there are two classes of Kaivartas, Cha.si
or Hal iba and Jal iba or Jal ia, who may be regarded
practically as two separate castes 0 The occupation
40. Ibid, pp.l09-110.
Jt17
of the former is mainly a'jriculture, whic~l was at
one time looked upon as a noble profession belonging
to the vaishy community of the vedic age, but which
on account of various causes carne to be despised
and gradually fell to the share of sudra folk. Th•:
occupation of the jalia kaivarta is to catch fish,
a profe.:;sion which from the time of vedas belonged
41 to non-aryan outcastes.
The Narnasudras of Bengal are not an occupational
caste. They are found in various occupations as
cultivators, fishermen, boatmen, carpenters etc.
They are regarded as 1 untouchable:3 1 by the higher
cdstes of Bengal and only a generation ago were
known by the name of chandala.
'!he Narnasudras are a virile, i n d us t r i o :J.s
and martial- spirited people, who with their toils
in the fields in water and in forests supply the
higher castes with food, transport and other necessit-
ies of life, and in times of danger offer with their
brawns and courage, protection to the lives and
properties of those who are called the gentlemen's
of society.
41. Ibid I pp. 124-126.
148
As regard to the treatment meeted out
the Namasudras by the higher castes, it
must be said that untill recent times,
they are called chandalas, whom the Dharmsas
tras describe as a despised out caste people
whose contact must be avoided as far as
possible by all decent men. They are not
allowed entry into the higher castes houses
lest their touch would defile the house.
They were not to be given education, lest
it would inspire them
their upliftment and
of living. Furthermore,
not go to their houses
with a desire for
a higher standard
physicians
for treatment
would
of
their diseases, and even barbers would
not shave them, though a barber had no
objection to shave Muslims and christians
and even a converted Namasudra. What is
worse still, even the light of spiritualism
and religion was denied to them. Brahmans
would not serve as priests to them. They were not
S"'-~ even~ the light of spiritualism and religion was
denied to them. Brahmans would not serve as priests
to them. They were not allowed entry into any temple,
because their presence would impart impurity to
tne dieties. In a word, they V{ere not encouraged
to feel that they were members of the same religious
community as the higher caste people.
It is no wonder, therefore, that when I slam
with its spirit of equality between man and man
of the Muslim community appeared in Bengal and invited
the down-trodden people of the Hindu Community to
receive the solace and shelter of Islamic faith,
thousands upon thousands of these people welcomed
the invitation and became converts to the new religion.
The social picture of Bengal by the middle
of the 19th century changed radically on account
of the ptevalance of exchange economy. This resulted
into accumulation of huge wealth by the new urban
Bengali upper class which was diverted in to land.
Investment in land was made safe by the Permanent
settlement for deriving an annuity like income without
any effort or enterprise on the part of the investor.
J50
This produced a very interesting and unique social
situation in Bengal, the broad features of which
are these. The city capitalists becoming landholders,
living most of the time in the city as lords and
visiting occasionally their rural estates like feudal
princes; The rural landholders squandering most
of their peasant fleeced money in urban luxuries
and vices and their times in indolence and group
rivalries and caste-politics and a lot of culture
mongering. A consiaerable part of their wealth was
wasted in competitive conspicuous consumptions and
luxuries, such as religious and social ceremonies,
entertainment of British rulers for seeking their
favour and patronage, feeding the feudal vices,
and also in religious charities and endowments and
temple building, possibly for the redemption of
their exploiters Soul Stained with people's blood~ 2
The structure of feudal bureaucratism in
Bengal, and to a large extent in India, was based
on the caste hierarchical power system, and was
dominated by the Brahmins, the Kayasthas and the
vaidyas. The despising of merchants is a very old
42. The Asiatic Society, Calcutta, 'Renascent Bengal' (1817-1857) Proceedings of a Seminar,pp.l6-19.
15.1
characteristic in Bengali thought, and although
the merchants were not allotted the lowest rank
in caste-hierarchy' ~heir occupation was never consid
ered socially respectable. The term bania or baney
was always uttered with contempt by the members
of the upper castes. Merchants might acquire great
wealth, yet they were never accorded a high social
position or prestige for that. As such, the new
social mobility induced by an exchange economy,
could not provide any fresh incentive to them for
hoarded capital. They had nothing to gain by that.
The upper castes on the other hand, had much to
gain. The achieved 'class' power and status of
money was added to their ascribed 'caste' power
and status, and they became far move powerful in
society. No, .such possibility existed in the case
of the 'baniks'. Even the social mobility induced
by educa_t ion especially by English education proved
ineffective in removing caste-ascriptions.